With one signature, tolls on the Sakonnet River Bridge can be delayed until at least Feb. 1.

Meanwhile, the fight continues to stop them forever.

Gov. Lincoln Chafee received a budget on Thursday from the General Assembly that calls for a halt to tolling until at least Feb. 1. The budget is for the fiscal year that starts on Monday.

That measure is embedded in the budget before the governor. Because he has no line-item veto, Chafee must either approve or reject the budget in its entirety.

If it is signed by the governor, the budget also calls for the creation of a legislative study commission to find ways to fund the maintenance of the state’s four biggest bridges: the Newport Pell Bridge, the Jamestown Bridge, the Mount Hope Bridge and the Sakonnet River Bridge.

The budget amendment was a last-minute effort by Rep. John Edwards, D-Tiverton, and Sen. Louis DiPalma, D-Middletown.

Edwards said the outpouring of letters, calls and emails to the General Assembly leadership by people opposed to the tolls convinced legislative leaders to include the measure in the budget.

Edwards attended the Tiverton School Committee meeting Thursday on another matter.

He received a long round of applause when committee member Deborah Pallasch thanked him for his work on the tolls.

David Darlington, chairman of the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority, warned legislators that the delay could threaten the state’s ability to every collect tolls on the bridge because of provisions in federal highway laws.

RITBA and the state Department of Transportation opposed the delay. RITBA intended to begin collecting tolls on the bridge during the second week in July.

Meanwhile, Portsmouth continues its legal bid to stop the tolls.

Town Solicitor Kevin Gavin filed an appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Boston of the denial, by U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Lagueux, of Portsmouth’s request for a preliminary injunction to stop the tolls until the case can be heard in court.

Lagueux, who sits in Providence, also issued a ruling Thursday denying Portsmouth’s request to stop the tolls while the appeal is pending.

There has been no date set for a hearing on the matter.

RIDOT, RITBA and the federal Highway Administration, all defendants in the suit, have until July 5 to file their answers to the appeal in federal court.